Monday 9 March 2015

Magical Capitals

Finding an online educational game was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be. I spent roughly two hours just looking for a game that taught English or anything close. It was easier finding math games or science games, probably because they are the most challenging subjects (at least, for most students). Scrolling through popular children's educational programs such as sesame street or leapfrog was unsuccessful. I finally resorted to searching on Google for "best educational online games." I came across Sheppard Software and found that they have been creating educational software for about 33 years. The CEO of the company, Brad Sheppard, is not a certified educator, however. He is a programmer, instead. For credibility purposes, he does have many educational consultants who review his programs to uphold education standards. ISTE*T 2B states "Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress." Sheppard Software does just that, through the many different programs they offer for all age levels.
The game I chose was Magical Capitals, which focused on language arts skills; more specifically, the use of capitalization. It was a simple game with simple instructions: Click the letter in which you think should be capitalized. Some pros I experienced were that it was very user-friendly. It was colorful, the music was nice, and age-appropriate for the most part. Immediate feedback was given and for every answer you got right, a new character popped up. I thought this was a fun way to reward children, in a way, for their correct answers. I did find a few cons about the game as well. Whenever you got the wrong answer, the fairy would get mad and zap the answer you chose. This might promote violence or negative behaviors, depending on how the student could react. Also, it is not a progressive game. It has one level and once you are finished, it is the end. If you choose to restart you will experience the same questions and answers. You are also not able to move on until you get all the answers correct, so if you are having trouble trying to figure out the correct letter, you could stay there for awhile.
In the online article Blended Learning: Making It Work In Your Classroom, teachers integrated digital learning with face-to-face lectures and observed impressive gains in student achievement. To introduce a game into my curriculum, I could start by lecturing about the topic. Then, with a selected group I could take them to play the educational game while I continue other activities. It could be used as down time, maybe. So the kids are still engaged in learning activities while I am not teaching.
Because I am doing special education, I am expected to teach general education content and this would be a fun way to incorporate English for ESL students or children with learning disabilities. It is a more interactive alternative to lecturing and students would enjoy it. However, I personally would not use this particular game. After assessing it, I realized that I need to look for games that are appropriate in all aspects. In this case, I would purposely get the wrong answers just to see what the outcome is. I learned later on after choosing the game that it was not a great game for young children because of that. At least now I am more aware of what I should be analyzing.


References:

  • International Society for Technology in Education (http://www.iste.org/standards/standards-for-teachers)
  • Blended Learning: Making it Work In Your Classroom. (2014, September 11). Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/practice/blended-learning-making-it-work-your-classroom



Tuesday 3 February 2015

Pilot

Hey everyone!

My name is Felicia Leon Guerrero and I am constantly searching for my purpose in this world. I believe in fate and karma and all that fairy-tale romance stuff. On the other hand, I'm so used to being a pessimist or always worrying about what happens next and not taking life day-by-by.  At 21 years old, I thought I would be more accomplished by now. I thought I would be almost graduated with a stable job or at least living on my own. Turns out, life doesn't work that way. Only a year ago, I realized what I really wanted in life: to help people. It didn't take long to decide that I wanted to double major in Special Education and Psychology. It wasn't a long-time goal; I didn't even want to get into education to begin with. I just woke up one day and thought "You know what? I'm gonna do it!" Frankly, I love to dance and thought to make it a career. Being that my parents are Filipino and Chamorro, it wasn't a career choice they had in mind. Nonetheless, I found my new passion in life. With this new found perspective, I'm committed to learn how to appreciate the littlest things and I can't wait for what life has in store for me.

Sincerely,
Felicia